Presence based DTMF signaling enablement of voice communication controller and method

ABSTRACT

A voice communication controller (e.g., private branch exchange (PBX)) is described herein which can automatically enable an outbound dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) feature for one of it&#39;s extensions that is attached to a phone which belongs to a user while that user is or is likely to be participating in a session with an external DTMF communication system (e.g., a conference/collaboration bridge, an interactive voice response (IVR) system, or a voice mail system). This is desirable because if the user presses button(s) on their phone then the voice communication controller which has enabled the outbound DTMF feature will not attempt to process the corresponding DTMF digit(s) but instead will automatically transfer the corresponding DTMF signal(s) to the external DTMF communication system.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/764,206 filed Jun. 17, 2007 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,041,015 the disclosure of which is incorporated in full herein as if set forth in full herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is related to a voice communication controller (e.g., private branch exchange (PBX)) which can automatically enable an outbound dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) feature for one of it's extensions that is attached to a phone which belongs to a user while that user is or is likely to be participating in a session with an external DTMF communication system (e.g., a conference/collaboration bridge, an interactive voice response (IVR) system, or a voice mail system).

BACKGROUND

A private branch exchange (PBX) typically has features like “place a second call”, “transfer” or “conference” that are initiated by a user when they press one or more buttons on their phone. For instance, the user can press *55 (DTMF signaling) on their phone (e.g., regular phone) to have the PBX initiate a “transfer”. Or, the user can use their phone (e.g., high-end phone) and press a hard (or programmable soft) button which is specifically associated with a particular feature like “transfer” and have this operation performed by the PBX. In the last case, the user can press the hard (or programmable soft) button on their phone (e.g., high-end phone) and does not need to remember the specific DTMF number (feature code) to have the PBX initiate the “transfer” feature.

This set-up works relatively well in most situations except for when the user calls an interactive voice recognition (IVR) system (for example) like one which can be used by a bank that typically asks the user to press one or more buttons on their phone in response to a question like do you speak Spanish or please enter your bank account number. Since, the PBX is typically listening for feature codes via DTMF signals it interprets these DTMF signals (pressed buttons) to be for the PBX's own use and as a result will not transfer the DTMF signals to the IVR system. This is not desirable because the person will not be able to communicate with and/or retrieve the desired information from the IVR system.

In an attempt to address this problem, the PBX has been programmed such that it can enable an “outbound DTMF feature”. In this case, if the user pressed *22 (for example) on their phone or if they pressed a specific hard (or programmable soft) button on their phone or if they performed a “hook flash” (briefly hang-up the phone) then the PBX would enable the “outbound DTMF feature” which would allow subsequent DTMF signals to pass to the remote IVR system (or other type of DTMF communication system like a conference/collaboration bridge or a voice mail system). However, this solution is awkward since the person may not realize that they need to enable the “outbound DTMF feature” in the first place or they may have difficulty recalling the particular DTMF signaling or the “hook flash” operation that they need to perform to enable the “outbound DTMF feature”.

One attempt to address this particular problem involved programming the PBX such that the “outbound DTMF feature” was always enabled. However, this default setting of the PBX was not desirable because the person could no longer use keypad presses or DTMF signaling to control the PBX. Accordingly, there is still a need to solve the problem associated with properly enabling the PBX's “outbound DTMF feature”. This need and other needs are satisfied by the voice communication controller (e.g., PBX), the method and the presence system of the present invention.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, the present invention provides a voice communication controller (e.g., PBX) which has a processor that obtains information indicating a user of a communication device is participating in a session with an external DTMF communication system and then enables an outbound DTMF feature for an extension associated with the communication unit such that if the user presses button(s) on the communication unit then the corresponding DTMF signal(s) will be passed on to the external DTMF communication system.

In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method for enabling a voice communication controller (e.g., PBX) to automatically enable an outbound DTMF feature by following these steps: (a) obtaining information indicating that a person is likely using a communication unit which is connected to an extension within the PBX to participate in a session with an external DTMF communication system; and (b) enabling the outbound DTMF feature for the extension associated with the communication unit such that if the person presses button(s) on the communication unit then the voice communication controller transfers the corresponding DTMF signal(s) to the external DTMF communication system.

In still yet another aspect, the present invention provides a presence system comprising a presence server and a rules engine. The presence server collects presence information about a person. The rules engine aggregates the presence information and analyzes the aggregated presence information to determine if a connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state should be set which would be set if the person is likely using a communication unit to participate in a session with an external DTMF communication system. The presence server would publishes the set connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state to a voice communication controller (e.g., PBX) which then enables an outbound DTMF feature for an extension associated with the communication unit such that if the person presses button(s) on the communication unit then the voice communication controller transfers the corresponding DTMF signal(s) to the external DTMF communication system.

Additional aspects of the invention will be set forth, in part, in the detailed description, figures and any claims which follow, and in part will be derived from the detailed description, or can be learned by practice of the invention. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present invention may be obtained by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that is used to help explain several different ways a PBX can obtain information so it knows when to automatically enable an outbound DTMF feature for a particular user in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a flowchart that illustrates the basic steps of a method for enabling a PBX to automatically enable an outbound DTMF feature for a particular user in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a diagram which is used to help describe several different ways a PBX 100 can obtain information so it knows when to automatically enable an outbound DTMF feature for one of it's extensions 102 that is attached to a phone 104 which belongs to a user 106 that is or is likely to be participating in a session with an external DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b and 114 c (e.g., a conference/collaboration bridge 114 a, an IVR system 114 b, or a voice mail system 114 c). Although a PBX 100 is used herein to describe the present invention, it should be appreciated that many other types of voice communication controllers (which can be implemented in software, hardware or a combination of software and hardware) could also be used including, for example, an IP-PBX (which supports IP phones), a hybrid PBX-IP-PBX (which supports analog phones, Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) phones and IP phones), or a software-server voice communication controller implementation.

Basically, the PBX 100 needs to obtain information that the person 106 is or is likely to be participating in a session with an external DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c (e.g., the conference/collaboration bridge 114 a, the IVR system 114 b, or the voice mail system 114 c) before it can enable an outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 connected to the person's device 104 (e.g., office phone 104). The PBX 100 (in particular the processor 108) can obtain this information in different ways (see options 1, 2 and 3) so it can then automatically enable the outbound DTMF feature such that when the user 106 presses button(s) on their phone 104 then the PBX 100 will not attempt to process the corresponding DTMF signal(s) but instead will transfer the corresponding DTMF signal(s) to the desired external DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c. It should be noted that if the person 106 does not call an external DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c then the PBX 100 would not enable the outbound DTMF feature and would instead process any incoming DTMF signals to initiate a desired PBX feature.

In option #1, the PBX 100 can obtain this information directly from the DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b and 114 c. For instance, the PBX 100 can receive this information 117 a directly from the conference/collaboration bridge 114 a which indicates person 106 is going to participate with several other people 109 and 110 (only two shown) in a multi-party conference call (shown as voice legs 112) (note: the user 106 may need to use DTMF signaling to set-up or become part of the multi-party conference hosted by the conference/collaboration bridge 114 a hence the benefit of implementing the present invention). The conference/collaboration bridge 114 a determines this information 117 a by analyzing a phone number of a called/calling party that may be participating in a multi-party conference call and mapping that phone number to the communication device 104 used by person 106. If desired, the conference/collaboration bridge 114 a can use Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) signaling, tones, or in-band signaling to transmit the information 117 a to the PBX 100. Upon receiving this information 117 a, the PBX 100 (in particular the processor 108) then enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104.

Alternatively, the PBX 100 can receive this information 117 b directly from the IVR system 114 b (like one commonly used by a financial institution, a movie theaters etc. . . . ) which indicates person 106 is attempting to communicate with and retrieve information from the IVR system 114 b. The IVR system 114 b determines this information 117 b by analyzing a phone number of a calling party and mapping that phone number to the communication device 104 used by person 106. If desired, the IVR system 114 b can use VoIP signaling, tones, or in-band signaling to transmit the information 117 b to the PBX 100. Upon receiving this information 117 b, the PBX 100 (in particular the processor 108) enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104.

In yet another alternative, the PBX 100 can receive this information 117 c directly from the voice mail system 114 c which indicates person 106 has called the voice mail system 114 c to retrieve voice/text mails from their mail box. The voice mail system 114 c determines this information 117 c by analyzing a phone number of a calling party and mapping that phone number to the communication device 104 used by person 106. If desired, the voice mail system 114 c can use VoIP signaling, tones, or in-band signaling to transmit the information 117 c to the PBX 100. Upon receiving this information 117 c, the PBX 100 (in particular the processor 108) enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104.

In option #2, the PBX 100 determines by itself that person 106 is likely to be participating in a session (e.g., multi-party conference) with an external DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c (e.g., conference/collaboration bridge 114 a). In this case, the PBX 100 infers that person 106 is likely to be participating in the session by analyzing either a phone number called by person 106 or a phone number associated with an incoming call to the person 106 and determining that this particular phone number is associated with an external DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c (e.g., conference/collaboration bridge 114 a). The PBX 100 (in particular the processor 108) then enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104.

In option #3, the PBX 100 obtains this information in the form of a connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119 (e.g., connected-to-conference/collaboration-bridge presence state, connected-to-interactive-voice-response-system presence state or connected-to-voice-mail-system presence state) from a presence system 118. In this case, the presence system 118 collects real-time information about the activities of person 106 and if the collected information indicates that person 106 is likely participating in a session with an external DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c then it sets and publishes the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119. In this embodiment, the PBX 100 needs to subscribe with the presence system 118 to be a watcher of person 106 so it can obtain published presence information about person 106 which includes at least the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119. There are many different ways the presence system 118 can collect real-time information about person 106 and then determine/infer that person 106 is participating in a session with an external DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c. Several examples about how this can be accomplished are described below after a brief discussion is provided about the basic structure/function of the presence system 118.

As shown, the presence system 118 includes a presence server 120 which is connected to a rules engine 121. Alternatively, the presence server 120 could be co-located with the rules engine 121. In either case, the presence server 120 is coupled via multiple Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) interfaces (or SIP for Instant Messaging (SIMPLE) interfaces, Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) interfaces etc.) to various connectors 122 a, 122 b . . . 122 i which in turn are respectively coupled to various devices 114 a, 114 b . . . 114 i. In this example, the connectors 122 include a conference/collaboration connector 122 a, an IVR connector 122 b, a voice mail connector 122 c, a telephony connector 122 d, a calendar connector 122 e, an IM connector 122 f, a PC connector 122 g, an email connector 122 h and a miscellaneous connector 122 i. And, the devices 114 include the conference/collaboration bridge 114 a, the IVR system 114 b, the voice mail system 114 c, the processor 108/114 d (shown located in PBX 100), a calendar server 114 e, an IM server 114 f, a PC 114 g, an email server 114 h and a miscellaneous device 114 i (e.g., personal digital assistant (PDA), mobilephone, PC). For clarity, the description provided herein about the presence system 118, the various connectors 122 a, 122 b . . . 122 i, and the various devices 114 a, 114 b . . . 114 i omits those details that are well known in the industry and are not needed to understand the present invention.

The presence server 120 collects a wide-variety of information about the real-time activities of person 106 and then the rules engine 121 aggregates and analyzes this presence information in view of preference rules/policies and if appropriate sets the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119. Then, the presence server 120 publishes the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119 so it can be received by the PBX 100. As a result, the PBX 100 knows that person 106 is likely to be participating in a session with an external DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c and can then enable the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104. Several different examples are provided next to indicate how the presence server 120 and rules engine 121 can determine when to set the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119.

In the first example, the presence server 120 interfaces with the IVR connector 122 b and obtains presence information via the IVR system 114 b which indicates a phone number of a calling party that is attempting to communicate with and retrieve information from the IVR system 114 b. The rules engine 121 analyzes this presence information (in view of other information) and determines that the phone number of the calling party is associated with the communication device 104 that is used by person 106. The rules engine 121 then infers that person 106 is participating in a session with the IVR system 114 b and sets the connected-to-interactive-voice-response-system presence state 119 (which is one type of the more generic connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119). The presence server 120 publishes the connected-to-interactive-voice-response-system presence state 119. And, the PBX 100 after receiving the published connected-to-interactive-voice-response-system presence state 119 then enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104.

In the second example, the presence server 120 interfaces with the voice mail connector 122 c and obtains presence information via the voice mail system 114 c which indicates a phone number of a calling party that called the voice mail system 114 c to retrieve voice/text mails from their mail box. The rules engine 121 analyzes this presence information (in view of other information) and determines that the phone number of the calling party is associated with the communication device 104 that is used by person 106. The rules engine 121 then infers that person 106 is participating in a session with the voice mail system 114 c and sets the connected-to-voice-mail-system presence state 119 (which is one type of the more generic connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119). The presence server 120 publishes the connected-to-voice-mail-system presence state 119. And, the PBX 100 after receiving the published connected-to-voice-mail-system presence state 119 then enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104.

In the third example, the presence server 120 interfaces with the conference/collaboration connector 122 a and obtains presence information via the conference/collaboration bridge 114 a which indicates a phone number of a calling party (or a called party) that called (or was called by) the external conference/collaboration bridge 114 a to participate in a multi-party conference call. The rules engine 121 analyzes this presence information (in view of other information) and determines that the phone number of the calling party (or called party) is associated with the communication device 104 that is used by person 106. The rules engine 121 then infers that person 106 is participating in a multi-party conference call hosted by the external conference/collaboration bridge 114 a and sets the in-a-conference presence state 119 (which is one type of the more generic connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119). The presence server 120 publishes the in-a-conference presence state 119. And, the PBX 100 after receiving the published in-a-conference presence state 119 then enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104.

Following are several other exemplary cases where the presence system 118 can receive presence information and infer that person 106 is participating in a session with the external conference/collaboration bridge 114 a (or other DTMF communication system 114 b and 114 c) and then as a result publish the set in-a-conference presence state 119 (or the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119). Then, the PBX 100 after receiving the published in-a-conference presence state 119 (or the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119) then enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104.

In one case, the presence server 120 interfaces with the telephony connector 122 d and obtains presence information via the PBX 100 which indicates that person 106 used communication device 104 to call a particular phone number or to receive a call from a particular phone number. The rules engine 121 analyzes this presence information (in view of other information) and determines that this particular phone number is associated with the external conference/collaboration bridge 114 a (or the other DTMF communication system 114 b and 114 c). The rules engine 121 then infers that person 106 is participating in a session with the external conference/collaboration bridge 114 a (or the other DTMF communication system 114 b and 114 c) and sets the in-a-conference presence state 119 (or the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119). The presence server 120 publishes the in-a-conference presence state 119 (or the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119). And, the PBX 100 after receiving the published in-a-conference presence state 119 (or the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119) then enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104.

In a second case, the presence server 120 interfaces with the calendar connector 122 e and obtains presence information via the calendar server 114 e which indicates that person 106 is scheduled at a particular time to participate in a multi-party conference call. The rules engine 121 analyzes this presence information (in view of other information) and sets the in-a-conference presence state 119 when the multi-party conference call is scheduled to take place. The presence server 120 publishes the in-a-conference presence state 119. And, the PBX 100 after receiving the published in-a-conference presence state 119 then enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104.

In a third case, the presence server 120 interfaces with the IM connector 122 f and obtains presence information via the IM server 114 f which indicates that person 106 has manually set the in-a-conference presence state 119 (or the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119). The presence server 120 publishes the in-a-conference presence state 119 (or the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119). And, the PBX 100 after receiving the published in-a-conference presence state 119 (or the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119) then enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104.

In a fourth case, the presence server 120 interfaces with the PC connector 122 g and obtains presence information via the PC 114 g which indicates that person 106 has used a GUI in their PC 114 g to call a particular phone number. The rules engine 121 analyzes this presence information (in view of other information) and determines that this particular phone number is associated with the external conference/collaboration bridge 114 a (or other DTMF communication system 114 b and 114 c). The rules engine 121 then infers that person 106 is participating in a session with the external conference/collaboration bridge 114 a (or other DTMF communication system 114 b and 114 c) and sets the in-a-conference presence state 119 (or the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119). The presence server 120 publishes the in-a-conference presence state 119 (or the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119). And, the PBX 100 after receiving the published in-a-conference presence state 119 (or the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119) then enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104.

In a fifth case, the presence server 120 interfaces with the email connector 122 h to obtain presence information via the email server 114 h which indicates that person 106 has received and/or sent an email indicating that they are scheduled at a particular time to participate in a multi-party conference call. The rules engine 121 analyzes this presence information (in view of other information) and sets the in-a-conference presence state 119 when the multi-party conference call is scheduled to take place. The presence server 120 then publishes the in-a-conference presence state 119. And, the PBX 100 after receiving the published in-a-conference presence state 119 then enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104.

In a sixth case, the presence server 120 interfaces with the miscellaneous connector 122 i and obtains presence information via a miscellaneous device 114 i (e.g., PDA, mobile phone, PC). The presence information can indicate that person 106 has used a GUI, a keyboard, a keypad, a pointer, a mouse etc. . . . to manually set the in-a-conference presence state 119 (or the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119). The presence server 120 publishes the in-a-conference presence state 119 (or the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119). And, the PBX 100 after receiving the published in-a-conference presence state 119 (or the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119) then enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 associated with the person's device 104.

As can be seen, the presence server 120 can collect a wide variety of presence information about the real-time activities of person 106 and then the rules engine 121 can analyze that information and determine/infer that person 106 is likely participating in a session with a DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c. Of course, it should be appreciated that the presence server 120 can also collect other types of presence information which were not mentioned above but could be used by the rules engine 121 to determine/infer that person 106 is likely participating in a session with a DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is a flowchart of the basic steps of the method 200 for enabling a PBX 100 to automatically enable an outbound DTMF feature for a user 106 when they are likely to be participating in a session with a DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c in accordance with the present invention. Beginning at step 202, the PBX 100 (in particular the processor 108) obtains information that person 106 is using a communication device 104 (e.g., office phone 104) connected to the PBX's extension 102 so they can take part in a session with the external DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c (e.g., a conference/collaboration bridge 114 a, an IVR system 114 b, or a voice mail system 114 c). As discussed above, the PBX 100 can obtain this information 117 a, 117 b or 117 c directly from the DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c (see option #1). In addition, the PBX 100 can determine by itself that person 106 is participating in a session with a DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c (see option #2). Moreover, the PBX 100 can obtain this information 119 (e.g., the connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119) directly from the presence system 118 (see option #3). At step 204, the PBX 100 (in particular the processor 108) after obtaining this information 117 a, 117 b, 117 c or 119 enables the outbound DTMF feature for the extension 102 which is associated with the communication device 104 that is in use or is commonly used by person 106. At this time, if the user 106 presses button(s) on their phone 104 then the PBX 100 which has enabled the outbound DTMF feature will not attempt to process the corresponding DTMF signal(s) but instead will automatically transfer the corresponding DTMF signal(s) to the external DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c. At step 206, the PBX 100 (in particular the processor 108) disables the outbound DTMF feature for extension 102 which is associated with the communication device 104 after a predetermined amount of time has passed, after the communication device 104 is placed “on-hook” or when it is determined that person 106 is no longer participating in the session with the DTMF communication system 114 a, 114 b or 114 c.

Following are some additional features, advantages and uses of the present invention:

-   -   The PBX 100, the presence system 118 and the method 200 can         support and monitor any number of people even though only one         person 106 is shown and described herein.     -   The PBX 100 can obtain other types of presence information from         the presence system 118 in addition to the         connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state 119. Plus,         the presence system 118 may have rules/policies that are used to         decide which presence information should be sent to the PBX 100.     -   Even though person 106 has been described in several examples         herein as participating in a multi-party conference call. It         should be understood that the present invention could also be         used if person 106 happens to be participating in a         collaboration session.     -   The present invention can be related and coupled with another         invention discussed in the following documents:         -   U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0081644 A1             entitled “Telephony/Conference Activity Presence State”.         -   U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0117508 A1             entitled “Conference Presence Based Music-On-Hold             Suppression System and Method”.         -   U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0133437 A1             entitled “System and Methods for using Data about who is             speaking in a Communications Conference to Enhance Business             use of Temporal Identification of Those Participating and of             Communications Conference Archives”.

The contents of these documents are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

-   -   For a more detailed discussion about the basics of the presence         system 118, reference is made to the following documents:         -   Jack Jachner et al. “Rich Presence: A New User             Communications Experience” Technology White Paper, 8 pages,             copyrighted 1st quarter 2005.         -   J. Rosenberg, “A Data Model for presence”,             draft-ietf-simple-data-model-05 (work in progress), Sep. 22,             2005.         -   Rosenberg, J. “A presence Event package for the Session             initiation protocol (SIP)”, RFC 3856, August 2004.         -   H. Shulzerine et al. “RPID: Rich Presence Extensions to the             presence Information Data Format (PIDF)”,             draft-ietf-simple-rpid-08, (work in progress), Jul. 16,             2005.         -   Rosenberg, J. “Presence Authorization Rules”,             draft-ietf-simple-presence-rules-03 (work in progress), Jul.             20, 2005.     -   The contents of these documents are incorporated by reference         herein.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the accompanying Drawings and described in the foregoing Detailed Description, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth and defined by the following claims. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for enabling a voice communication controller to automatically enable an outbound dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) feature, said method comprising: obtaining information indicating that a person is likely using a communication unit which is connected to an extension within a voice communication controller to participate in a session with an external DTMF communication system; and enabling an outbound DTMF feature for the extension associated with the communication unit by transferring a corresponding DTMF signal to the external DTMF communication system upon depression of one or more buttons on the communication unit.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said DTMF communication system comprises: a conference/collaboration bridge; an interactive voice response system; or a voice mail system.
 3. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving the information from the external DTMF communication system, where the received information indicates that the person is participating in the session with the external DTMF communication system.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein said external DTMF communication system uses Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) signaling, tones, or in-band signaling to transmit the information to the voice communication controller.
 5. The method of claim 1 further comprising inferring at the voice communication controller that the person is participating in the session with the external DTMF communication system by analyzing a phone number called by the person and determining that the phone number is associated with the external DTMF communication system.
 6. The method of claim 1 further comprising subscribing with a presence system to obtain a connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state that indicates the person is likely using the communication unit to participate in the session with the external DTMF communication system.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein said connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state further comprises one or more of the following: a connected-to-conference/collaboration-bridge presence state; a connected-to-interactive-voice-response-system presence state; and a connected-to-voice-mail-system presence state.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein said voice communication controller is a private branch exchange (PBX), an internet-protocol private branch exchange (IP-PBX), a hybrid PBX-IP-PBX, or a software server.
 9. A voice communication controller, comprising: a processor for obtaining information which indicates a user of a communication unit connected to an extension within the voice communications controller is participating in a session with an external dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) communication system, and enabling an outbound DTMF feature for an extension associated with the communication unit by transferring a corresponding DTMF signal to the external DTMF communication system upon depression of one or more buttons on the communication unit.
 10. The voice communication controller of claim 9, said processor for further receiving the information from the external DTMF communication system, where the received information indicates that the user is participating in the session with the external DTMF communication system.
 11. The voice communication controller of claim 9, said processor for further inferring that the user is participating in the session with the external DTMF communication system by analyzing a phone number called by the user and determining that the phone number is associated with the external DTMF communication system.
 12. The voice communication controller of claim 9, said processor for further receiving a connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state from a presence system that indicates the person is likely using the communication unit to participate in the session with the external DTMF communication system.
 13. The voice communication controller of claim 12, wherein said connected-to-DTMF-configured-system presence state further comprises one or more of the following: a connected-to-conference/collaboration-bridge presence state; a connected-to-interactive-voice-response-system presence state; or a connected-to-voice-mail-system presence state. 